Thursday, June 13, 2013

Theme Thursday: Dad

Joining Clan Donaldson again today for Theme Thursday, this time we're talking about Dad!

I love this picture of my dad and my son, even though the picture is now 3 years old. This picture was taken on our first family vacation, and by family vacation I mean my parents, all of us siblings, and our children. Since this picture was taken there have been 3 more grandchildren added. It was such a fun week spent on the banks of Lake Michigan in a tiny town called Beverly Shores, Indiana.

I love watching my dad and my kids together. He has a bad back, but it doesn't matter, he's always on the floor wrestling with them. He will say, "I probably won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow, but that's okay, we're having fun!" My dad is kind of amazing too. When I was 17 my parents divorced and we lived with him as my mom was unfit to take care of us at that point in her life. He was suddenly thrown into single parenthood with two teenage girls. At 41 years old he was left to navigate the waters of training bras and estrogen on his own. The poor guy couldn't help but get embarassed when we'd make the monthly grocery shopping trip and he'd have to ask us if we needed to go through the "feminine" aisle. If the answer was yes he'd respond with, "I'll meet you in the next aisle!" He remarried a few years later, and while I have a great relationship with them now, there was a time in my early 20's when I didn't speak to them for almost 3 years. Blended families are hard, but he never gave up on any of us. I'm glad he didn't. They have been married for 15 years this year, and I honestly can't imagine my family any differently. My parents' divorce was painful, but I'm thankful to have my stepmom and my two stepbrothers in my life too. And I'm especially grateful for my awesome dad and thankful that he loves us all so much.